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The Impact Of Disciplinarity On The Organizational Leadership Styles Of Academic Deans, Lauren J. Way

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of disciplinary background on the leadership styles of academic deans. The researcher conducted a nation-wide survey of academic deans from a wide range of disciplines. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether the disciplinary backgrounds of university deans are reflected in their self-reported actions, decision-making, and role perceptions. Subjects’ disciplines were categorized according to high-consensus and low-consensus fields as well as the pure/applied dichotomy. Four dimensions of organizational leadership (bureaucratic, collegial, political and symbolic) were utilized to define the subjects’ potential cognitive frames. The subjects’ use of cognitive frames were …